Male Programmer Privilege Checklist
The Male Programmer Privilege Checklist Being male (or perceived to be male) as a programmer, means: Othering See also: Othering *Not having to explain why the term "gentlemen" doesn't include you. ** Not having people be confused about how to refer to you when not using your name. ** Not ever being called "the lady programmer". ** Never being the special case ("hi guys and girls, I guess, too, if you want to get really technical about it!!") * Not having to wonder whether you're well-known in your community simply for being "the female one". * The expectation that if you say you are a programmer, people will believe you. * Never being described as a "hot guy" first and a competent professional second. * The freedom to watch a technical talk without being explicitly reminded that many of your colleagues see you primarily as a sex object. (See also: Sexualized environment.) * The freedom to join in appreciation of the sex object du jour without having to be gay or bisexual. * The freedom to do your job without anyone insinuating that you only got hired because of affirmative action or "quotas", or because of the anatomy you happen to possess. (See also: Tokenism.) * The freedom to attend a technical talk without anyone assuming that you're only there because your boyfriend dragged you along with him. * Giveaway shirts will be available in a cut designed with bodies like yours and fashion norms like those attached to your gender in mind, even if they are out of your size. If shirts are provided from event signups, there is no need to do anything more complicated than specifying shirt size. (See: T-shirts.) * Never being asked whether you got lost upon entering a computer science classroom. * The ability to listen to speakers refer to an inanimate software construct as "this guy" without feeling othered and getting distracted from the content of the talk. * Not having to deal with awkwardness after someone complimented you on your work in a non-gender appropriate way and then tries to correct themselves (ie you the MAN! err... you the woMAN!). * Not having to worry that you will be insulted in a way that hilights your gender (ie bitch, whore). * The freedom to laugh at jokey photos of women holding bumper stickers about closures because they're as funny to you as pictures of cats "reading" calculus books, rather than wondering whether your colleagues see you in the same way as those women. * The freedom to listen to speakers say that software should be so easy to use that even your mom could use it without wondering whether they have you in mind. * The freedom to laugh at stories about their significant others not getting something technical in nature without wondering whether they have you in mind. * The freedom to listen to speakers say that instant messaging isn't just for teenage girls talking about the Backstreet Boys without wondering whether they have you-ten-years-ago in mind. * The expectation that if you attend a professional conference, there will be a restroom you can use. (See also: Restroom.) * Being invited to play video games with your colleagues, because they haven't assumed you won't be interested because of your gender. * Having colleagues who can close the door when they talk to you if the conversation is loud or should remain private, without anyone worrying about impropriety, assault, or false accusations. (See also: Personal safety) * Not having to think about what gender you are. * Not being accidentally called by the name of an employee who does not resemble you in any way except for gender. Double standards and double binds * The freedom to tell someone to RTFM without ever being accused of PMS. * The freedom to make mistakes or say stupid things without worrying about it getting added to the pile of "why women suck at computer stuff". (This point is also illustrated by the "you suck at math" xkcd comic entitled "How it works.") * Being praised for the content of your writing rather than the neatness of your handwriting. * Being appreciated as a competent professional rather than as an instrument for calming down troublesome people or manipulating disagreeable ones. * Never having anyone suggest that you slept your way into getting a bug fixed. * Being confident that your work is really as good as your supervisor says it is, and not fearing someone is allowing you to submit substandard work in hopes of sleeping with you. * Having potential romantic partners assume from your career that you're smart and well-to-do rather than unattractive and unfeeling. * If you're married, having people take you to lunch without them speculating on how your spouse would feel about them taking you to lunch. * The freedom to show interest in things that are stereotypical for your gender without having to worry you'll be taken less seriously because of it. * The freedom to show interest in things that are unstereotypical for your gender without having to worry that you'll be seen as freaky and asexual for it (instead of being seen as cool and progressive). * The freedom to show interest in things that are unstereotypical for your gender without being told you're just doing it to get attention from the other gender (instead of being seen as just another member of the group). * Being treated like a hero if you compromise on work for childcare responsibilities, rather than having your commitment to work questioned. * Being seen as talented if you cooked the item for the work potluck yourself instead of having your significant other do it or buying something from a store. * Not having to choose between dressing/acting stereotypically for your gender and being thought unprofessional (or not a Real Geek) for it, and dressing/acting un-stereotypically and being thought unseemly. * The right to organize professional or educational events that are a safe space for members of your gender and in which members of other genders are unwelcome, without being criticized by members of a different gender for being "sexist" or "exclusionary". (This works because you enjoy the privilege of being able to enforce the single-sexedness of a particular event or space without ever having to say so explicitly, thus granting yourself immunity from criticism.) * The freedom to mention your gender online without worrying that if you do, and you then experience gender discrimination, others will tell you that it's your fault for mentioning your gender. * The freedom to not mention your gender online while knowing that even if your accomplishments never get stacked up as "worthwhile things male programmers have done", male programmers' reputation will be safe anyhow. * The freedom to switch to a less technical career without feeling like you're betraying the cause of gender equality. * Your interaction with people of your own gender who work with you will generally be assumed to be based off your own unique personality traits, and not reduced to stereotypes about your gender: if you get along well with another person of your own gender, it will be because you are friends and not because women naturally have more in common with each other than with any man; if you do not get along well, you will be assumed to have valid reasons, not that women always hate each other and judge each other harshly. * The ability to be taken seriously as a self-taught programmer while a female must show formal credentials and invest the time and tuition money for them. * The extra time and freedom to upgrade your skills and stay current in technology because your gender is not expected to perform the "second shift" in the domestic world. Employment * The freedom to apply for a job at your partner's workplace without worrying that others will think you only got the job because of your partner. * The ability to have your desk near the entrance to your office without visitors assuming you're the receptionist. * Not being the first one everyone looks to to take notes in a meeting, reserve the restaurant for lunch / dinner, or call maintenance to get the AC fixed. * Never being asked by a job interviewer whether you would mind being the first male employee in the company. * The freedom to attend job fairs without having anyone suggest you look for secretarial work instead. * Having questions about your ideas directed to you during a meeting or seminar that you're speaking in, rather than to your collaborator or colleague of a different gender. * Never having to re-direct attention to yourself as the expert away from someone of the other gender. * While networking for your next job or trying to find a mentor of the opposite sex, having people take your professional aspirations seriously and not dismiss your social nature as just flirting (because you can't seriously be interested in technology). * Being able to find a professional mentor relatively easily, and not be regarded as a waste of teaching time and energy because it is assumed people of your gender are technologically incompetent and therefore difficult to coach. * Because you're viewed as trainable, become more easily hired at the beginning of your career by employers that see your "natural" potential, and not have your lack of experience held up as an excuse not to hire you. * Having more self-taught programmers of your gender to look up to and aspire to because they manage to become successful even without formal university credentials, due to the faith put in them by employers. * Being recruited by non-local employers who don't assume you can't move because of your spouse's career. * Being believed when you say you are passionate about technology, programming, or gaming, when passion is listed among the desired traits in a job candidate. * Being confident that you are compatible with a company's culture when an employer explicitly states they want someone with the "right fit" but does not define what it is to be the "right fit." * The freedom of having a varied background when applying for a programming job, with the expectation that even if you apply with an Liberal Arts degree, you'll still be taken seriously if you market yourself as a self-taught programmer because your gender is seen as innately rational and logical. There are plenty of male programmers with English degrees out there that were allowed to prove themselves. However, the shortage of female programmers has been explained away as "because they just don't study Computer Science in high numbers." This ignores the existence of female self-taught programmers and demands that a female earn the "right" technical degree before she is allowed into the field. Personal safety See also: Rape culture * The freedom to attend a technical conference without fear of sexual assault. * The freedom to participate in social situations or stay at work late without fear that your co-workers or boss will assault you. * If you have been assaulted in a work-related environment, the freedom to switch to another job and be sure it won't happen again there. * The freedom to walk home unafraid after a late-night coding spree. * Freedom from fear that your open-source work will make you a target for death threats (note: linked-to post discusses sexual assault and violent threats against women). * The freedom to have a closed-door discussion without worrying that this is an attempt to isolate you to carry out an assault. (See also: Othering) Innocence * Enjoying the blissful illusion that computer science or the IT industry are pure meritocracies where gender never matters. * If you lacked work experience, you can believe that it was your university degree that got you hired, not knowing that an equally qualified woman was turned down for having no work experience either. * If you lacked a university degree, you can believe that it was your work experience that got you hired, not knowing that an equally qualified woman was turned down for having no degree either. * Blissfully view the learning process as one of fun experimentation where failure is a part of learning, and not being forced into perfectionism with the apprehension that your mistakes will be held up as examples why your gender can't excel at programming. * The freedom to discuss the role of gender in programming without people thinking you're being (a) self-serving, (b) whiny, © bringing politics into realms where it's not relevant, or (d) all of the above. * Assuming that your accomplishments increase your status with the other gender. * The privilege of being able to deny the existence of your own privilege as a male programmer. About The original version of the list was by Kake, inspired by a post on the London Perlmongers mailing list. A number of other privilege checklists also served as inspiration. From 2006-2011, the master version of this list was maintained by Tim Chevalier. Guidelines for adding new entries To some people, some of the items of this list may not seem very specific to software, computer science, open source, or IT. Perhaps some items seem common to all professional environments. That's okay; the purpose of this list is to sample a broad range of experiences that women, and people who were perceived at some point as women, have had while working as programmers. Not all of the experiences need to be experiences that only a programmer would have. See also * Cisgender Programmer Privilege Checklist Category:Privilege